There are a whole slew of bands that it would be easy to compare The Invisible to, but such comparisons would be very lazy. The Invisible do not deserve to spend their careers being talked of in the same breath of Radiohead and TV on the Radio, instead they deserve a breath of their own. With 'Rispah', the long overdue second album from this London based trio, this London based trio have managed to fully define their own sound and create a work of astonishing depth.
It may sound strange but it is fair to say that the reason 'Rispah' carries such depth is because there is not actually that much going on. There are far too many bands out there that seem to think that being experimental is all about having tons of different things going on at once. The Invisible have proved here how wrong such an assumption is. By honing in on the aspects that make each of the tracks on 'Rispah' great the trio have successfully produce a genuinely brilliant experimental rock record. It is also leaps and bounds better than their self-titled debut from 2009, and that was pretty good itself.
It would rather spoil the album to go into too much detail as to what 'Rispah' actually sounds like but be prepared for texture on this album. The band has dipped into a rich sonic palette here. Electronic influences bubble in and out of the foreground, the sound of traditional Kenyan spiritual chanting weaves into the mix - this album is a varied but never jarring combination of sounds and atmospheres. Lyrically this album is surely largely formed by frontman Dave Okumu’s tragic loss of his mother in the run up to recording. However it would be wrong to describe this album as definitively sad. There is a sense of emptiness that exudes from moments here but at the same time there is a sense of acceptance as well, a balance that few lyricists manage to strike.
Certainly 'Rispah' is one of the best albums that you are going to hear in 2012. The only issue that could be realistically taken with it is that it lacks the immediacy that is so crucial to many listeners. Having said that, the likes of 'Lifeline' and 'Surrender' are so good that they almost demand to break the flow of the album and be stuck on repeat for an hour or so. In short, if 'Rispah' does not see The Invisible win over a brand new audience then there is no justice. This is a fantastic album and the best thing is that, from it, it is easy to see The Invisible going on to even bigger and better things in the future.
'Rispah' is out on 11th June via Ninja Tune.
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It may sound strange but it is fair to say that the reason 'Rispah' carries such depth is because there is not actually that much going on. There are far too many bands out there that seem to think that being experimental is all about having tons of different things going on at once. The Invisible have proved here how wrong such an assumption is. By honing in on the aspects that make each of the tracks on 'Rispah' great the trio have successfully produce a genuinely brilliant experimental rock record. It is also leaps and bounds better than their self-titled debut from 2009, and that was pretty good itself.
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